Ghost Recon Breakpoint: everything we know

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is here to make you feel outgunned and outnumbered. Breakpoint is a direct followup to Wildlands, but it's shaking up the setting and adding new survival mechanics reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid 3. This time, Ubisoft is moving Nomad and the ghosts from the very real Bolivia into the fictional Pacific island-esque open world of Auroa (not Aurora—we triple-checked). There's a notable villain this time, too: Jon Bernthal’s character, Cole D Walker, and his band of rogue Ghost agents known as the Wolves.

Below, you'll find all the information currently out in the wild (lands) about Breakpoint, from release date, beta access, story, characters, and more.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint beta is coming on September 5

Alongside the E3 trailer featuring antagonist Cole Walker giving his troops a speech, Ubisoft revealed the date for Breakpoint's beta. You'll be able to go on a survivalist misadventure on September 7, and you can sign up for it here.

What is the Ghost Recon Breakpoint release date?

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is releasing October 4, 2019. That’s more than enough time to get Wildlands off your pile of shame, like I am right now, before jumping into the next entry in the Tom Clancy series.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint trailer introduces the Wolves

The latest Ghost Recon Breakpoint trailer, revealed during Google's Stadia event, gives us a better look at Jon Bernthal's Cole D. Walker and his gang of goons. You also get a lovely snapshot of Breakpoint's island setting, and lots of nasty-looking drones being brought to life. He really is Colonel Kurtz for the modern age (except his monologues aren't as good).

Ghost Recon Breakpoint story and setting: what we know

Breakpoint takes us to the fictional island of Auroa. As with Wildlands, it's an open world environment, and it'll feature a host of different locations each with their own sense of place. Breakpoint promises isolated snowy peaks, abandoned urban areas, lush rainforests and sandy, rocky hillsides.

Bernthal's villain was first revealed in the recent Operation Oracle DLC release for Wildlands, where he played as an ally. Here's the announcement trailer if you missed it:

After crash landing on the island of Auroa, you (Nomad) have to regroup with your team and other agents, overcoming a series of obstacles often led by a mysterious group hunting you down. Your opponents are also armed with some advanced and strange technology, which comes from the presence of the Skell technology facility on the island.

Skell has a type of AI tech that becomes increasingly autonomous, and therefore more dangerous. It’s up to Nomad and his teammates to figure out exactly what’s going on while being tailed by advanced drones, the followers of company leader Jace Skell, and the mysterious pack of Wolves. Here's a story trailer with more of that in action:

Ghost Recon Breakpoint's gameplay is more survival focused

If you play Breakpoint in singleplayer, you won't have AI buddies in the game to join you—instead, a drone pal will help pull off some of the feats you'd usually accomplish in co-op. Survival plays a big part in Breakpoint, with an injury system being a significant feature. In Breakpoint you’ll get specific injuries which will affect you in different ways, such as slowing you down or affecting your gun-slinging abilities.

Tied into this is a camouflaging ability that will allow you to stay hidden in tough spots, or if you're injured. You'll have to put extra planning into each scenario, with each looking a bit more complicated than taking on bands of drug dealers in the Wildlands landscape. Fans of drones, like me, will be pleased that they remain an important mainstay, and fans of short cuts, like me, will also be pleased by the introduction of snipping through fences as an in-game option.

Beyond the co-op, there will also be multiplayer PvP so you can test your squad against other bands of merry folk. Check out the trailer below for more:

Ghost Recon Breakpoint Year 1 roadmap

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Ubisoft has revealed the details of Breakpoint's Year 1 roadmap, which will be adding a ton of content to both its PvP and PvE components. A new season drops three times per year, with the main event being a new five hour "adventure". The PvP mode Ghost War will also receive updates and new maps and each season also brings a new class playable in PvE and PvP.

The last big addition is raids, the first of which is coming in season 1. Raids will be "highly replayble" and support different playstyles. The first one takes place on an active volcano. Season 2 will only update the existing raid while season 3 will add a new one.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint beta and post-launch content details

The first chance to experience Breakpoint will come with the beta. You can gain access to it by registering with Ubisoft, or by pre-ordering any edition now from the Ubi Store, through your Uplay account, or the Epic Game Store.

There is already a confusingly large array of editions to choose from: the Standard, Gold, and Ultimate editions are available from both Ubisoft and Epic—the latter two also include a Year 1 pass—while you can also go for the limited Wolves Collector's Edition direct from Ubisoft.